Books I’ve Read: History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time

Posted on December 27, 2013 by CharlieClaywell

I watched some of the stories included in this book on TV. The book contains all the conspiracies one would expect to find, JFK’s murder, John Wilkes Booth (was he really captured) and some obscure ones like where is the White House cornerstone? But the one that pique my interest was the one about the American ‘Stonehenge,’ — the Georgia Guidestones.

The 10 guidelines or principles are inscribed in granite monuments that are nearly 20 feet tall. Besides the somewhat crytic tone of the rules is the fact that the public at large has few to no clues about who financed this massive undertaking. The guides were placed in a northeast rural Georgia — in what is referred to as a safe zone (should the apocolypse occur). For the most part the guides are benign-sounding — although the topmost guide suggests a huge reduction in human population.

The stones were erected in the 1980s. Here are the 10 guides:

  1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
  2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
  3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
  4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
  5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
  6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
  7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
  8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
  9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
  10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

There are many theories about what the stones represent — everything from Satanic groups wanting a New World Order to a sign of the times — the fear the Cold War would wipe out humanity. Regardless, if nothing else they are definitely an intriguing modern mystery.

Categories: Conspiracy, Mystery | Tags: , , ,

Civil War: Women as protectors of their homeland

Posted on December 19, 2013 by CharlieClaywell

Maybe I overlooked or missed something in my high school history books — but I don’t remember ever hearing much about the role women played during the Civil War. Of course I knew about Clara Barton, but I never knew there were women spies or even women who dressed as soldiers so they could fight.

My forefathers lived in the Cumberland Plateau during the Civil War — one of the most partisan, and bloody, areas of the conflict. In has been documented that men on both sides of the conflict became vigilantes engaging in criminal activities like theft and murder under the guise of the war effort.

One such case happened at the home of 16-year-old Julie Marcum.

Although they lived the Confederate state of Tennessee, the Marcum’s, like many of their neighbors were Unionists. Julie’s father Hiram, even allowed his farm to be used by men who were heading north to join Lincoln’s Army. But in late summer 1861, the War came home to the Marcums and especially to Julie.

At around 2 a.m. on September the 8th, a group of Confederate soldiers surrounded the house and demanded Julie send her father out. Her father, though, was not in the house — as a precaution he had been sleeping outside.

When Hiram did not come out, one soldier remained behind and entered the home. The soldier choked Julie’s mother. He jabbed at Julie, her mother and sisters, Minerva and Didama, with his bayonet and when Didama ran upstairs to get a candle, the soldier chased her, grabbed her and threatened to kill Didama and her family.

This is when Julie took matters into her own hands. Waiting until she could run underneath the soldier’s gun, she charged him and hit him in the face and chest with an axe. Mortally wounded, the soldier fought back, shooting off two of her fingers and ramming his bayonet into her forehead, causing her to lose an eye. By this point, her father was inside the home and he shot and killed the soldier.

Two years later, the Confederates would successfully run the Marcums off their land. The family would escape into Casey County, Kentucky.

Because of the incident, in 1885, Julie was recognized by the U.S. government as a combatant in the Civil War entitling her to a military pension. She is believed to be the only woman from the Civil War to receive a pension in her own right.

Julie outlived her siblings and their spouses and died in 1936. She is buried in Williamsburg, Kentucky.

Categories: Appalachia, Civil War History, Cumberland Plateau, Genealogy

Books I’ve Read: Killings — Folk Justice in the Upper South

Posted on December 15, 2013 by CharlieClaywell

mainDoubleTopI have read several books by author and researcher William Lynwood Montell because he has written quite a bit about the region my family line lived in from about 1810 to 1950 (extended family still lives in the region described in his books). Although, my father was the first in our family line to permanently move out of the region, I still spent much of my childhood visiting Cumberland and Clinton Counties in Kentucky — and to a lesser degree a few adjacent counties in Tennessee.

Because of my childhood visits I became very acquainted with the rituals, customs, mindset and beliefs of my extended family — which, in many ways, was significantly different than what I was experiencing in junior high and high school. The differences weren’t bad — just not the same as what I was experiencing 250 miles north of the region.

Killings: Folk Justice in the Upper South relies of a variety of research methods to uncover the stories of the men and women and the violent crimes committed by them. It does not attempt to exploit or sugar-coat the stories — in an almost journalistic style it just relays the information. Montell explains his approach to the 50 killings included in the book.

All together, there are 50 documented homicides between the mid-1880s and 1940, but only six more through 1979. Numerous additional unverified homicides are rumored to have occurred, mainly between 1900 and 1920. While there may be substance to some of these reports, I have chosen to omit them from consideration and base my comments and conclusions on the 50 killings that are verified by court records or substantial oral tradition.

Even though the book is relatively short — just over 200 pages — it offers a considerable amount of information and insight into a region that had a homicide rate more than ten times the national average between 1880 and 1940.

Montell was also very deliberate in choosing the word killing — as opposed to murder — because killing is a more accurate word to convey the various homicides mentioned in the book.

Categories: Appalachia, Cumberland Plateau, Family History, Genealogy